MLS Regular Season | Match #5
Toronto FC vs Atlanta United
Saturday, March 23 | 7:30 p.m. ET
BMO Field | Toronto, Ontario
TV: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV + TSN3
English (Apple TV): Callum Williams (Play-by-Play) and Calen Carr (Analyst) | Matt Cullen (Local Feed)
Spanish (Apple TV): Moisés Linares (Play-by-Play) and Pablo Mariño (Analyst)
English (TSN): Luke Wileman and Kevin Kilbane
Toronto FC (2-1-1, 7 pts) welcome 2017 MLS expansion club Atlanta United (2-1-0, 6 pts) to BMO Field for their second home match of the 2024 MLS season on Saturday evening. The Matchday 6 encounter kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET and can be viewed MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app and on TSN3 in Canada.
Toronto FC fell to their first defeat of the 2024 season last Saturday, when New York City FC came back to record a 2-1 victory at Yankee Stadium. With seven points from the club’s opening four matches, TFC currently sit fifth in the MLS Eastern Conference standings and will be looking to record a second straight home win to open an MLS campaign for the fifth time in club history. The Reds hold a 4W-4L-6T record through their first fourteen meetings with The Five Stripes in regular season play.
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Toronto FC welcome Atlanta United to BMO Field for their second home match of the 2024 MLS season on Saturday evening. Following their victory against Charlotte FC in the club’s 2024 MLS home opener, TFC hold a 116W-82L-77T all-time record (425 points) in MLS regular season matches played on home soil. Historically, Toronto FC have remained unbeaten in their opening two home matches to begin an MLS season on nine occasions (2008, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023). The Reds have recorded a pair of wins from their opening two home matches on four of the nine occasions (2008, 2010, 2019, 2020), a feat John Herdman and the Reds will be looking to emulate this weekend.
AN ODE TO THE PAST
Toronto FC host 2017 MLS expansion club Atlanta United for the 15th regular season encounter in the all-time series between the two clubs. TFC hold a 4W-4L-6T record through their first fourteen meetings with The Five Stripes in regular season play, while TFC hold the edge (1W-0L-0T) in postseason play after beating Atlanta United in the 2019 MLS Eastern Conference Final. The conference rivals have previously faced off in Toronto on six different occasions, with the Reds outscoring Atlanta 13 to 10 through three wins, two ties and a loss at BMO Field. TFC’s last home victory against The Five Stripes at BMO Field came in the 2022 MLS season, when goals from Jonathan Osorio and Ralph Priso led the Reds to a 2-1 victory on June 25.
THE CLIMB CONTINUES
Toronto FC fell to their first defeat of the 2024 season last Saturday, when New York City FC came back to record a 2-1 victory at Yankee Stadium. Homegrown product Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty scored his first professional goal for TFC and became the ninth-youngest player to score for the club. Toronto FC also conceded their first goal of the 2024 campaign when Santiago Rodríguez equalized for the hosts. Prior to the goal, the Reds had logged 309 minutes without conceding a goal in MLS action, marking the fourth longest streak in club history.
ONCE A RED
Goalkeeper Quentin Westberg joined Atlanta United in December 2022, after spending four seasons with Toronto FC (2019 – 2022). The French-American shot-stopper made his TFC debut against Seattle Sounders FC on April 13, 2019, and made a combined 79 appearances for the club. Westberg helped the Reds become MLS Eastern Conference champions in October 2019, making four key saves in the conference final against Atlanta United. Westberg also helped the Reds lift the 2020 Canadian Championship, starting against Forge FC in the final and saving a penalty kick in the deciding shootout in June 2022.
CLASS OF 2024
Toronto FC’s Robyn Gayle was inducted into Canada Soccer’s Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2024, alongside former TFC captain Dwayne De Rosario earlier this week. Currently serving as the club’s Performance and Wellness coach, Gayle has been a champion of Canadian soccer on and off the field over the last decade. Internationally, Gayle made 81 international “A” appearances for the Canadian Women’s National team, won four Concacaf medals and represented the nation at three FIFA Women’s World Cups (2007, 2011, 2015) and earned a bronze medal in her second Summer Olympic Games (2008, 2012) with Les Rouges. After hanging up her boots in 2015, Gayle spent eight years working with the Canadian Men’s and Women’s National Team Programs alongside TFC Head Coach John Herdman, before joining the Reds in October 2023.
A four-time Canada Soccer Player of the Year, De Rosario made 81 international “A” appearances, scored 20 goals and was a Concacaf champion with Canada. The Scarborough, Ontario native was also a four-time MLS Cup winner, Supporters’ Shield winner and US Open Cup winner at the club level and earned MLS Most Valuable Player honours once, MLS Cup MVP honours twice, and Canadian Championship MVP honours twice in his career. “DeRo” was previously appointed to the Order of Ontario in February 2020.
The careers of Robyn Gayle and Dwayne De Rosario have left an indelible mark on the sport in the country and the two Canadians will be honoured later this year at Men’s National Team and Women’s National Team home matches in front of family, friends and fans.
